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Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters

Usual Title

new Lugano Convention

Place of Signature

Lugano

Date of Signature

30/10/2007

Date of Entry Into Force

01/01/2010

Duration

Indefinite

Agreement Suspension Justification

Objective of Agreement

The objective of the Convention is to unify the rules on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters and expand the applicability of the Brussels I regulation (Council Regulation 44/2001, containing a set of rules that create a unified system in this regard) to the relations between Member States of the EC on the one hand and Norway, Iceland and Switzerland on the other.

Remarks

After its entry into force the "new Lugano Convention" will apply to jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. It will not apply to tax, customs and administrative matters or to the status and legal capacity of natural persons, rights in property arising out of matrimonial relationships, wills and succession, bankruptcy or composition, social security or arbitration. The Convention, signed on 30 October 2007 by the European Community, along with Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, will come into force as soon as it is ratified by the signatories, replacing the Lugano Convention of 16 September 1988. The contracting parties must deposit their instruments of ratification with the Swiss Federal Council, which will serve as depositary of the Convention. Once it has come into force, the convention will be open to: • future members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA); • Member States of the European Community acting on behalf of certain non-European territories that are part of their territory or for whose external relations they are responsible; • any other State, subject to the unanimous agreement of all the contracting parties. The Convention follows the present legal framework of the Community, namely the " Brussels I " Regulation on jurisdiction and on recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters between the Member States. The rules will therefore be similar in the EU and in Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. The Convention will also facilitate the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments handed down by the national courts of the EU Member States and those of the countries named above. As Denmark has opted out from the Brussels I regulation, the said regulation did not apply on its territory until recently. That is why Denmark is separately mentioned in the summary as a contracting party.

See Amendments to the Annexes of the Lugano Convention, 30 October 2007; OJ L57 of 03/03/2017, p.63.